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City of Stillwater computer hacked, exposes personal information for 3K

(STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA / May 24, 2017) – The City of Stillwater announced today that an unauthorized party had access to a city computer over a period of 22 days. This computer contained records with personal information for people who were issued citations for violations of city ordinances — with the exception of parking tickets — between March 15, 2015, and May 16, 2017.

According to Sherry Fletcher, director of marketing and public relations, “The hacked computer contained no financial information; however, some personal information, such as names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, and in some cases social security numbers were potentially accessed.”

When it discovered evidence of misconduct, the City notified law enforcement of the issue and secured the computer. The City is also reviewing its overall information technology system in an effort to mitigate further issues.

“We take citizen privacy seriously and regret any inconvenience this incident caused,” Fletcher said. “We believe about 3,000 people were affected.”

The City has mailed letters to the most recent address for each person affected as required by the federal Security Breach Notification Act.

If you believe an unauthorized party accessed your personal information, the City recommends you take the following steps:

Contact one of the national credit reporting agencies below and ask for a fraud alert on your credit report. There are two types of fraud alerts you can place on your credit report to put your creditors on notice that you might be a victim of fraud: an initial alert and an extended alert. You may ask that an initial fraud alert be placed on your credit report if you suspect you are, or are about to be, a victim of identity theft. An initial fraud alert stays on your credit report for at least 90 days. You may have an extended alert placed on your credit report if you are already a victim of identity theft with the appropriate documentary proof. An extended fraud alert stays on your credit report for seven years. The City of Stillwater does not have authority to do this for you, as the credit bureaus must have your permission to set up the alerts.

You can place a fraud alert on your credit report by calling the toll-free fraud number of any of the three national credit reporting agencies listed below.

Request a copy of your credit report and carefully review the report for any activity that looks suspicious. You can get a free copy of your credit report online at www.annualcreditreport.com, by calling toll-free 1.877.322.8228, or by mailing an Annual Credit Report Request Form (available at www.annualcreditreport.com) to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105282, Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281.

Report any suspicious activities on your credit reports to your local police or sheriff’s office and file a police report. Keep a copy of this police report in case you need it to clear your personal records.